Opinion
Editorial

Editorial: Trudeau undermines judicial independence

Postmedia Network

Tuesday, February 13, 2018
5:15:24 EST PM

Jordan Mirasty, 16, and her twin sister, Janeah, of London protest the verdict in the shooting death of Colten Boushie of Saskatchewan. Over 100 protesters listened to speakers first at Victoria Park then walked on the roads with a police escort to the London court house on Monday February 12, 2018. (MIKE HENSEN, The London Free Press)

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The not-guilty verdict in the tragic death of Colten Boushie has resulted in calls for change to Canada’s justice system after a white farmer was acquitted of killing the young Cree man.

Boushie, a member of the Red Pheasant First Nation, was 22 years old in August 2016 when he and four friends drove an SUV up the long, gravel driveway leading to Gerald Stanley’s farmhouse west of Saskatoon.

In the confrontation that followed, Boushie ended up being shot in the head, which is the obvious and heartbreaking part of this tragedy. Colten Boushie didn’t deserve to die.

The details and evidence of the trial have been both contradictory and controversial.

That Boushie and four friends, aged 18 to 24, had been drinking, tried to steal a vehicle using a gun as a crowbar before arriving at Stanley’s farm, then drove onto the property looking for help with a flat, not to steal.

In the confrontation that occurred after one youth jumped out of the SUV and tried to start an ATV parked in Stanley’s yard, Stanley maintained the handgun he used to scare them off discharged accidentally.

In the wake of the verdict, Boushie’s family were understandably outraged. Any parent would feel the same.

Red Pheasant First Nation Chief Clint Wuttunee and Indigenous activists across the country expressed outrage at the verdict and Canada’s justice system, which they insisted perpetuates racism and offers little justice for Indigenous people.

Stanley’s acquittal, meanwhile, may be subject to appeal and the RCMP is facing allepargations it botched the investigation. And if racism or errors influenced the verdict or investigation, the courts must be permitted to do their work.